Herein the posts are all to be in verse
To be specific, iambs--five per line,
Un-rhymed, or as the case may be, in pairs
Of rhymes, as couplets better known to all.
“But why?” I hear you all cry out as one.
“Why else?” I say, “it's simple, just for fun!”

Alas! The game proposed has come to naught.
No players opted in--I'm left alone
To scratch my verses out. But poets ever
Struggle with their art and with the mass.
In answer this to forum's silent scorn,
I'll take my bag of tricks out on the town
And litter Palimpsest with doggerel rhymes--
From this day on (that is until I'm
Otherwise inclined) my posts shall be in verse!

I find myself a fan of the iamb,
And also of the little 'bots that jam
Themselves into the space of Palimpsest
To root around through all our posts with zest
In search of information on all things -
It is their intervention here which brings
Me to this thread and many more besides;
And since their purpose is to act as guides
For those in search of knowledge on the web,
Negotiating awesome flow and ebb
Of data, which I find most challenging
Myself, I was inspired here to sing
Praise of trafficking the super highway,
And like Sinatra, I've done it my way...

At last another pentametric post!
Rejoice ye demi-angels of the host
Prosodical! And spare your blessing not
On other posters. Rather make them hot
With inspiration--shower them with rhymes
And rythym. Poetasting means good times!

I also like this game, let's have a ball,
Though this almost did not happen at all.
I misconstrued and thought you a cheater,
When your last line did not make your metre
And had consigned good rhymes to a wasting:
I read Poet-ast-ing as Poe-tasting,
A phrase I took to mean, with some élan,
"Appreciation of Edgar Allan".
Which would be a worthy mistake to make -
My ideas need another half a bake...

Too long has Edgar mouldered in the tomb--
To taste him would be madness. Yet exhumed
Imaginarily he may receive
Our necrophilic praises and take leave
Of nibbling worms for just a while. In short,
Allow me to propose a novel sport:
Poe-toasting! which entails a lifted glass
(Green absinthe is preferred, but all drinks pass),
A manic, vacant look (such as a craven
Lunatic might cast upon a raven),
And words of admiration for the mad,
Doomed saint of Baltimore. The sad
Burden of neglect, which in life he bore
Until it crushed him, lifted--nevermore
To weigh his reputation down--on fame's
bright wings... he soared above the parlor games
That passed for literature in his day.
In darkness he revealed a better way.

One of the most impactful verses read
In all my life to date came from his head:
Under the title "Silence - A Fable",
Or "Siope", I found Poe was able
To show a strong, thoughtful man come undone
And flee from conflict with a strange demon
Who employed no foul horror out of myth
But undermined the strength of his mind with
Silence - not by Absynth, but by Absence
Was the man defeated. He fled to whence
He came and there the dark vision ended,
Shown to another who had decended
Into a great cavern, into the realm
Of those he could not hope to overwhelm -
This same unholy creature and his Sphinx:
A laughing demon and a watchful lynx.

Such thoughtful discourse, sir, on Siope
Suggests the blessing of Calliope
Has penetrated deeply in your brain
And come out in your wise words once again.
For, though her epic musings brought her fame,
She has a sideline in poetic games.
An invocation, therefore, I shall make
To her--"Sweet Muse, please help me not to break
The meter, much less counterfeit the rhyme,
And let this verse not be a waste of time.
My tendencies towards grim and stygian
Thoughts, reveries of Callipygian
Maids, and penchant for general malaise...
I beg you stifle these a while. I praise
Your wisdom, beauty, and benevolence!
So in exchange for that please cast a glance
My way and make sure that I don't get stuck
Before I'm through. In sum, let this not suck."
Now that's done I'll get back to Mister Poe,
Whose greatest gift to letters, you should know,
A gift for which he'll ever rest in glory:
He wrote the very first detective story.